Page 2945 - Week 08 - Thursday, 17 August 2017
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there, providing the necessary funding cannot be argued against. But, once again, we appear to have cause for concern. For the past few years the number of custody days at Bimberi had been in decline. In the first half of this year, however, the centre has experienced what the current executive director for children, youth and family services referred to during estimates hearings as a relative surge in numbers of young people in Bimberi.
Just as more and more children and young people in this territory are entering out of home care, it appears that more and more children and young people in this territory are now entering the youth justice system, and not just the youth justice system but specifically our detention centre. This is another alarming bit of information from this year’s budget.
The government has chosen to pour much-needed funds into Bimberi, but where is the corresponding focus on prevention and early intervention in the budget? The government’s blueprint for youth justice tells us that early intervention and prevention are the most effective ways of reducing youth offending and promises that children and young people will be diverted from the justice system wherever possible and practicable with custody being a measure of the last resort. How will we know that the government is succeeding in implementing these principles? The blueprint itself states that one metric is a reduction in detention rates, the opposite of what we are now seeing.
In summary, my takeaway is that the 2017-18 budget is filled with crisis response at the tertiary end of the system but offers little to those who expect the government to be seeking to prevent matters from reaching that end. Ms Cuzzillo stated emphatically that she would:
… continue to call on the ACT government to prioritise early intervention and prevention as a guiding principle when making budgetary decisions.
I take up that call myself this day. Frankly, I am disappointed in this budget and the government’s lack of focus on prevention and early intervention, which become clear in these and a number of other areas. I expect better; the people of this territory deserve better.
MS STEPHEN-SMITH (Kurrajong—Minister for Community Services and Social Inclusion, Minister for Disability, Children and Youth, Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs, Minister for Multicultural Affairs and Minister for Workplace Safety and Industrial Relations) (4.33): I rise to speak on the Appropriation Bill 2017-18 and specifically in relation to the Community Services Directorate and my portfolios which are supported by that directorate. It has been said many times that budgets are about values, and I have said many times that vibrant, sustainable and inclusive cities do not just happen; they are built by governments with a vision for a better future. The Barr Labor government is such a government.
We understand how privileged we are to live in this beautiful city and the responsibility we have as MLAs and as a government to keep making it better.
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